Many passenger vehicles now incorporate an integrated communication system, such as a Mobile Vehicle Communication Units (MVCU), providing a variety of fee-based subscription services in a mobile environment. The MVCU is typically a vehicle telematics device including a cellular radio, satellite transceiver, and/or global positioning capabilities. Typically, a radio communication link is established between the MVCU and a call center through a Wide Area Network (WAN), using a node of the WAN in the vicinity of the MVCU.
A vehicle user links to the call center via the MVCU to make various service requests, such as requests for traffic information. The traffic information includes, in one embodiment, anticipated travel times as well as what factor(s) are impeding the flow of traffic along a route. Factors that impede traffic flow include, but are not limited to, reduction of posted speed limits, traffic incidents, accidents, weather conditions, lane and road closures, construction, and other planned or unplanned events impeding the flow of traffic. This information may be useful to the vehicle user for planning an alternate route or for other purposes.
When a service request for traffic information is made, the vehicle location is communicated to the call center along with the request. The call center determines the traffic information for the vehicle location and/or its vicinity and then sends the information to the MVCU. In some instances, such as during work commutes, it would be desirable to provide traffic information for a portion or the entire route taken by the vehicle user rather than just a specific location and/or vicinity of the request. However, this requires the vehicle user to specify the driver route in the form of a traffic profile. Configuration of the traffic profile may be performed through a site on the World-Wide-Web or by other means. This process may entail specifying each of the roads along the route as well as the days and times of the commute. As such, the configuration may be complicated and time-consuming.
It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a strategy for determining traffic information traffic profiles from service requests, and to overcome the deficiencies and obstacles described above.